The Backyard Annunciation

My head is still swimming with art history… BUT…at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon, I will be 1 exam down and 1 to go before jumping a plane and flying south to spend my Spring Break in Nicaragua… “Una cerveza por favor!”

Let’s take a look at “Madonna & Child,” “Enthroned Madonna & Child” & “Virgin & Child”… (a.k.a…. the paintings I’ve been memorizing)… Renaissance artists clearly had little desire to break away from the teachings of the Catholic Church… Mary & Jesus, Jesus & Mary: the most worshiped mother-son combo in history and popular models for Florentine frescoes, temperas and alter pieces.

The Virgin Mary plays a very special role in my life… One summer day when I was 2 ½ years old living in a small town in New Jersey, I skipped outside to pick some juicy red raspberries from the garden in the back of our house. At this time, mommy dearest was washing dishes in the kitchen sink and keeping a watchful eye out the back window to make sure I didn’t try to jump the fence and run away to Grandma’s house.

While peeking out the window, Mom noticed that I was behaving very strangely… I was sitting cross-legged on the grass, ignoring the delicious berries and having a full-on conversation with absolutely no one. My mouth was moving 100-miles per minute as I smiled and stared up into the sky.

While tucking me into bed that night, Mom hesitantly asked me who the hell I was talking to in the backyard that afternoon. Although I don’t remember any of this, I apparently put-on an innocent smile and said….

“Oh Mommy, Mary came to visit me today! You know…Jesus’s mother. She was soooo beautiful!”

Mom took a second to grasp was I had just said… and then replied: “Oh, umm, that’s great sweetheart. What did she say to you?”

“She told me that she loved me very much!” I replied.

Now a bit frightened… Mom turned off my light, kissed me goodnight and immediately ran to the phone. She quickly dialed her mother. The conversation went something like this…

“What the hell have you been telling Hilary! She just told me that she saw Jesus’s freaking mother in the backyard today! Are you brain-washing my kid with your rosaries and holy water?”

“Oh, Maryellen, that is so wonderful! The virgin has come to bestow her blessings on MY granddaughter… MY granddaughter! I knew she was a special child. Oh that Hilary, she’s such a Princess!”….

“AHHHHHH!” (Slightly angered…Mom hung up the phone)

I don’t remember seeing the Virgin Mary in my backyard… I have no idea whether I made-up the whole story or whether Jesus’s mom really did come down to tell me that she loved me. Either way… I earned eternal adoration from my grandmother that day. I also created my mother’s undying belief that I am psychotic. Well, you can’t win ‘em all friends… Amen, and God bless!